Booker, Bipartisan Coalition of Senators Hail Senate Passage of Historic Chemical Safety Law

Press Release

Today, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) joined a bipartisan coalition of senators, led by U.S. Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and David Vitter (R-La.), to celebrate the Senate's historic passage of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, a chemical safety reform bill to overhaul the nation's broken Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA). The bill passed the Senate last night by a unanimous voice vote and now has 61 bipartisan cosponsors.

The 39-year-old TSCA is the last of the major environmental laws passed in the 1960s and '70s that has not yet been modernized. The bill must now be reconciled with the U.S. House of Representatives-passed legislation on the same issue.

Passage of the bill was thanks to hard work from many senators. At a news conference this morning, Udall and Vitter thanked several partners who have worked hard to make the bill stronger and more bipartisan: Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Booker said: "Frank Lautenberg would be proud of the Senate's unanimous vote to approve the bill that bears his name, which brings us a step closer to the end of a long journey he started to strengthen the laws that help keep Americans safe from toxic chemicals. These changes are already decades overdue. The Senate and House need to now work together to quickly get this bill to the President's desk to be signed into law."

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